ABSTRACT
Most new religions are genuine expressions of spirituality that grow out of profound spiritual experiences. Whether their spirituality is self-indulgent or philanthropic, mature or immature, sensible or unintelligent is another matter. To most people outside of Germany, the Nazi movement is an example of a political ideology gone mad. It was that. But as George Mosse pointed out in the early 1960s, Nazism was inspired by various new religions and at its core was deeply religious but violently anti-Christian. Religion, says Stark, "is a system of general compensators based on supernatural assumptions" and he contends that those religious organizations that move "markedly in the direction of non-supernaturalism" will thereby "pursue the path to ruin". When Poewe was studying the Herero in Namibia, she found that they kept directing her attention to their problems. They were racked by severe and unrelenting anxiety. They described themselves as oppressed by suspicion, deceit, and jealousy; as overcome by hopelessness; as dazed into stuporous indifference.
